Supreme Court to hear campaign finance, Sixth Amendment cases

[JURIST] The US Supreme Court [official website; JURIST news archive] on Friday granted certiorari in four cases [order list, PDF], including Davis v. Federal Election Commission (07-320) [docket], in which the Court will consider whether the so-called millionaire's amendment [FEC backgrounder], part of a 2002 campaign finance law that allows political candidates to accept larger contributions from supporters if an opponent is able to finance his campaign with his own money, is constitutional. The exception is intended to ensure that independently wealthy candidates do not unfairly dominate elections. New York Democrat Jack Davis [campaign website] challenged the law, arguing that it violated his First Amendment rights, but the Washington DC Circuit Court ruled [opinion, PDF] that the law had not infringed on his right to free speech. AP has more.

In Giles v. California (07-6053) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will rule on whether an accused killer can bar the the testimony of the person he allegedly killed if he did not kill her with the intent of preventing her testimony. The Supreme Court of California held [opinion, PDF] that allowing the testimony did not violate the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause [Cornell Law backgrounder]. AP has more.

The Supreme Court also granted cert in two other cases Friday. In Taylor v. Sturgell (07-371) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Court will rule on whether a litigant is barred from pursuing a claim if another litigant had previously pursued a similar claim.

In Engquist v. Oregon Dept. of Agriculture (07-474) [docket; cert. petition, PDF], the Supreme Court will rule on whether a federal employee who is not a member of a protected class can sue for discrimination that was directed solely against her. The Ninth Circuit Court held [opinion, PDF] that an Indian-born woman who alleged discrimination from her supervisor could not sue under a "class-of-one theory." SCOTUSblog has additional coverage.

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